These ten compositions delve into infinity, drawing inspiration from resonance and elasticity, concepts rooted in Minkowski’s four-dimensional space-time model.
Intricately manipulated digital production
Over the course of his career, Alva Noto has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Mika Vainio, Scanner / Robin Rimbaud, William Basinski, Anne-James Chaton, Frank Bretschneider and Andy Moor. He has remixed works by, among others, Hauschka, Ludovico Einaudi, Machinefabriek, and, more recently, Joachim Spieth. The new album captures the music commissioned to score Richard Siegal’s Ectopia performed in 2021 by Tanztheater Pina Bausch with Shooting into the Corner (2008-09) by Anish Kapoor.
Building upon the blend of immersive dub and electronica from the first installment, HYbr:ID Vol. 2 takes the listener on a journey into the realm of intricately manipulated digital production. These ten compositions delve into infinity, drawing inspiration from resonance and elasticity, concepts rooted in Minkowski’s four-dimensional space-time model.
The opening track “Ectopia Environment” holds true to its title: an overview of Ectopia, a world located in the depths of the cosmos, cold and alien. Immense greyish and misty expanses open before our eyes, while a glacial wind whips us like tissue paper in front of a waterfall. At this time the producer created an icy cocktail of dubby atmospheres, elastic rhythms and gaseous textures made in response to Richard Siegal’s 2021 dance performance ECTOPIA.
Through the entire album, Carsten Nicolai masterfully creates precise rhythmic textures that float gracefully, evoking the image of celestial bodies orbiting in perfect cosmic harmony. The soundscape gradually reveals itself in gloomy, melancholy tones, integrating spacious sound design, ethereal atmospheres and plunging metal percussion. These elements are worked with artistic skill, outlining a sound framework in which large dub textures serve as a background. At certain times, the music throws itself in unexpected directions, with melancholic chords that flutter and intertwine through a digital fog, evoking an atmosphere of deep introspection and emotion.
HYBR:ID II is available on Noton. [Site]
